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San Francisco is more than an hour’s drive away, so my
excursions into the city tend to be more exceptional than quotidian. As such, I
spend a lot of time selecting a restaurant – a consuming task for such a richly
culinary city. With so many options, I’m inevitably drawn to the new, the edgy,
or the extraordinary, but never the comfortable. Comfort I can get at home.

It really was by accident that I found myself eating at the
bar at Absinthe in Hayes Valley a few weeks ago. Absinthe has been a staple of
the neighborhood since it first opened in 1998. Both the interior and the menu
are styled in the fashion of a French brasserie. Although the setting is darkly
romantic, the penetrating nostalgia of both cuisine and scene make for a dining
experience that is warmly comforting above all.

To be completely honest, whenever I find myself in an American
version of a French bistro or brasserie, I brace for mediocrity, but the food
at Absinthe was extremely well executed. For starters, we began with the
cauliflower soup and baby greens salad. The salad was especially excellent,
with the persimmon slices and pomegranate vinaigrette providing a refreshing,
fruity component that was not too sweet, and the brioche crisps and almond
slices contributed a complicating textural element.

Both entrées were hearty and delicious. The
mussels and clams were plated with chopped tomatoes and fresh herbs, along with
perfectly roasted, sweetly juicy slabs of fennel. A modest amount of
surprisingly light bouillabaisse broth covered the bottom of the bowl, and
served to tie all the elements together. The coq au vin was far more
substantial, with generous portions of chicken and root vegetables surrounded
by a rich sauce defined by its bacony smokiness and earthy mushroom tone. The
individual components were admirably intact, with each retaining their
integrity and flavor, as opposed to lying semi-dissolved into a stewy whole, as
can often happen with such a dish.

But while the food surpassed my American brasserie
expectations, it was the wine list that catapulted the restaurant from the familiar
to the exceptional. Weighing in at around 100 pages, the list at Absinthe is
dedicated largely to Burgundy, with equal attention given to both white and
red. While that is already enough of a boon, the reasonable prices and depth of
available vintages add even greater appeal. The majority of verticals stretch
back around 15 years or so, and include such luminous names as Dauvissat,
Raveneau, Coche-Dury, Comtes Lafon, Roulot, Niellon, DRC, Roumier and Ramonet. Those
who want the best of the best will find these prices difficult to beat,
especially for a restaurant list, but there are also a surprising amount of
terrific wines hovering around the $100 price mark.

California is the second best-represented wine region on the
list at Absinthe. The featured producers, such as Ridge, Corison, Diamond Creek,
Littorai, Rhys, and Arnot-Roberts, tend to run more old school and restrained
than modern and splashy. This is a trend that extends to other wine regions as
well. The Italian selections are dominated by Cappellano, Radikon, Cavallotto, Giacomo
Conterno, Castell’in Villa, and Emidio Pepe, while other parts of the world are
represented by verticals from the likes of Dagueneau, Chave, Clape, Clos Rougeard,
Rayas, and Lopez de Heredia.

For the purposes of my dinner, I selected a 2009 Louis
Carillon Puligny-Montrachet for $130. I was hoping that the wine would be
bright enough to complement the mussels while rich enough to stand up to coq au
vin, and I was not disappointed. Aromatically, it presented scents of ripe
pear, macadamia nut, oyster shell, and white mushroom. The palate was broad and
coating, with a modest acidity and a mineral darkness that flattered the lemon
oil in the finish. It performed very well for a village wine, as should be
expected from such a renowned producer.

Tarte tatin

At the end of my meal, while digging into the decadent tarte
tatin, I picked up the wine list for another browse through. This time, the
impressive selection of magnums caught my eye; clearly I was going to have to
gather some friends and return soon for a fresh attack. Truly, for lovers of
Old World or ‘old school’ wine, there is no better Bay Area destination than
Absinthe Brasserie & Bar. The setting is charming, the service attentive,
and the unfussy but high quality food allows whatever wine you select to
perform unfettered.